Amanda Bynes has been all over the tabloids this past year, most notably for multiple hit-and-runs, a DUI, being photographed smoking marijuana in her car, and locking herself in a Los Angeles dressing room for hours until an employee had to make a distress call. Essentially, things aren't going too well for Bynes, who's proclaimed she's "retired from acting."
But according to Bynes, she's bouncing back with a clothing line. "I am moving to New York to launch my career. I am going to do a fashion line," she told "People" this week. Cue the record scratch. It seems like she would want to lie low and wait until she's out of the hot seat before she delves headfirst into the fashion and retail world.
But Bynes isn't the first to pull out the fashion line card when things get tough. "I'm working on a clothing line," seems to be PR speak for, "Don't worry, I've got my act together." It's not uncommon for celebrities with a string of arrests or troubled pasts to launch clothing lines.
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Just look at Lindsay Lohan. Lohan is essentially the poster girl for the troubled Hollywood starlet, and she came out with her leggings line, 6126, after many stints in rehab, DUIs, and probation violations. It didn't take long for 6126 to go down the drain … unlike her endless legal issues.
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Other fashion line train wrecks: Heidi Montag, known almost exclusively for her outrageous plastic surgeries and public relationship with reality co-star Spencer Pratt, attempted to enter the fashion world with her line "Heidiwood." Similarly, Paris Hilton launched her own line, "Dollhouse," in 2008 after a long and troubled relationship with the tabloids, not to mention an infamous sex tape. And then there's Britney Spears, who experienced a very public meltdown (the head shaving, that tragic MTV Video Awards performance in 2007), but tried to come back with a clothing line for Kohl's in 2010.
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None of these fashion lines had much staying power, and tended to fade as quickly as they hit the scene. But it seems like they do serve a purpose: to take the spotlight off of the troubled A-lister, and make it clear that they still have a career ahead of them. We just hope that Bynes can break the cycle -- and not follow in the footsteps of Lohan or Hilton.
Have you noticed this trend of troubled celebrities launching clothing lines? Would you buy Bynes' clothing line?
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